Parking assist system

A vehicle parking assist system for assisting a driver of a vehicle in parking such vehicle in a garage having a location at a preselected global position, comprising:

• a positioning system mounted to the vehicle having stored therein the global position of the garage, for determining actual global position of the vehicle and providing a signal indicating when the vehicle is proximate the location of the garage;
• a range sensor for detecting a wall of the garage in a front of a forward moving portion of the vehicle into the garage;
• and
• a processor, responsive to the positioning system provided by a global positioning system indicating when the vehicle is proximate the garage, and the range sensor for indicating when the vehicle has parked into the garage such that the forward moving portion of the vehicle is spaced a predetermined distance from the wall while enabling a door of the garage to be closed behind the vehicle without striking the vehicle.

A method for assisting a driver of a vehicle in parking such vehicle in a garage, comprising:

• determining position of the vehicle;
• providing a signal indicating when the vehicle is proximate the garage;
• activating a range detection system disposed on the vehicle in response to the provided indicating signal;
• producing a warning to an operator of the vehicle in response to the activated range detection signal when the activated range detection system indicates the vehicle is at a predetermined range from a garage object.

A method for assisting a driver of a vehicle in properly parking the vehicle in a parking space, comprising:

• determining position of the vehicle;
• providing a signal indicating when the vehicle is proximate the parking space;
• activating a range detection system disposed on the vehicle in response to the provided indicating signal;
• producing a warning to an operator of the vehicle in response to the activated range detection signal when the activated range detection system indicates the vehicle is at a proper position in the parking space.